"It was a tough game and both sides really worked hard to get a result," Shuttleworth said.

"We made too many errors at crucial times and had a few tough calls go against us which really swung the momentum."

Shuttleworth felt the decision to send off centre Mitch Dockery and then sin bin Grant Stevens a few plays later put his side on the back foot.

"There were some controversial decisions today that had us down to only 11 men for part of the second half," he said.

"It certainly changed the flow of the match however as a side we need to be able to negate that and maintain our shape on the field.

"It comes down to the fact we committed too many errors and let Macksville back into the game."

With the rain pouring down, time running out and the Sea Eagles staring down the barrel of defeat, the home side rallied to score a crucial try courtesy of Micheal Tyerman to level the scores at 16-16.

The following set the Sea Eagles would take the lead for the final time in the match when Tyler Doolan kicked the winning penalty goal from 35 metres out to give the home side an 18-16 win.

Cantrill was confident the result was the confidence booster his team needed to turn its season around.

"That result is just a demonstration of what we can do as a side," the Macksville captain-coach said.

"We are still missing a number of quality players to injury and have yet to field a full strength side this year.

"When we finally manage to play our best 13 on the paddock all I can say is watch out."